Simple Guide to Starting a Winning Maid Service
By Michael Kawula
Owning a successful cleaning company can be very lucrative and a great long term investment.
Companies who provide great service and a professional experience for their customers can create
a continuous repeating revenue stream. The residential cleaning industry has exploded in growth
with more dual income families and the janitorial business has also seen healthy increases.
Individuals who run cleaning companies as a business verse a job can experience great financial rewards.
Making you business legal and official are one of the first few important steps to be
taken. Customers want to be assured when allowing someone in their home or business that they
are properly insured. Most homeowners will demand insurance as will larger corporate accounts.
The process for doing this is not difficult and will definitely assist a new cleaning business
in distinguishing themselves from a non-professional independent company. Establishing your
type of business formation can be done typically with your accountant who can also apply for
a federal tax id number for the business.
Determine with your accountant if you're going to be a sole proprietor, limited liability
partnership or a corporation. Once your business formation is complete you'll need to register
your business with your municipality or county. Businesses will also want to register a fictitious
business name the company can run under which is unique to your business only. Once this is
all completed you can now open a business bank account so customers can make checks payable
to your business name.
To finalize the official part of your cleaning company you'll want to make sure to obtain
insurance for your business. You will be required to have general liability, workers compensation
and insurance possibly for your vehicle. General liability insurance will help protect you
personally from losses should your business be found personally liable for damages. Bonding
your employees for dishonesty will also assure customers you're committed to protecting them
and also that you have run background checks on your employees as the insurance company will
require this.
Workers compensation is the final requirement that will protect your business if an employee
is injured on the job. Typically these insurance premiums are determined based on a percentage
of your payroll exposure. The longer you are in business and the more experience you get the
lower your percentage amount will become.
Once your business is legally formed and official you'll want to establish a marketing
agenda. A company logo, stationary, email address, business phone line, website if possible,
estimate sheets, business cards and signs will all be needed. Vista Print is a low cost effective
business to get all these tools for a low cost. Establish your target market and location to
begin your marketing.
Door hangers, flyers for car windshields and brochures with mailing list are very effective
forms of advertising targeted homes. This form of advertising allows you to advertise your
business to the area's you want to be in. College students can be hired cheaply for this and
paid a bonus based on returned phone calls from the marketing.
For house cleaning businesses large mansions might seem appealing, though they take longer
to clean and you won't get the same return as you would in a nice average household neighborhood.
For commercial cleaning business join a local chamber and networking chapter to get your business
out in front of others. Typically direct mail or the internet will produce greater returns
than a newspaper ad or telephone book.
Now that your marketing has begun you'll want to establish a pricing model that is competitive
with the local market. Consider calling around to your local competition to see their pricing
f or you to build your own pricing model. Have a few competitors visit some family houses for
an estimate to compare how you can price. Listen to their presentation and try to ask a lot
of questions to learn as much as possible.
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